Garment hanger



Aug. 5, 1947. H w s 2,425,241

GARMENT HANGER Filed Marph 8, 1944 Patented Aug. 5, 1947 UNITED STATESPATNT oFFicE .2 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful immovements in garment hangers.

An object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger in which thesupported garments will not be wrinkled or creased or have marks left onthem by the elements of the hangers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient hangerwhich is easily opened and closed.

Still another object is to provide a hanger which is ordinarily selfclosing but which can be positively closed and locked when supporting anextra heavy load of garments.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a simple, andefficient hanger which can be cheaply manufactured and easily assembledso as to keep down the costs.

Further and more specific objects, features, and advantages will moreclearly appear from a consideration of the specification hereinafterespecially when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings whichillustrate preferred forms of the invention and which form part of thespecification.

Generally speaking, the invention includes a hanger structure in whichall the supporting and adjustable clamping wires and elements, exceptthe garment-engaging bars, are disposed outside the area or portion ofthe bars engaging the clothes.

The invention further includes a structure in which the supporting wiresnaturally and resiliently are formed to press together and normally gripthe garments with sufiicient pressure and is provided with an operatingelement which in normal position is loosely related to the wires butwhen moved in one direction can act to spread the wires and release thegarments and when moved in another direction can be caused to engage thewires more definitely and positively to exert a positivegreater-than-normal pressure on the garments.

The invention further includes special features in the constructionwhich permit the hanger to be easily and cheaply manufactured andassembled and which features will more clearly appear from aconsideration of the drawings and specifications hereinafter set forth.

Present preferred forms of the invention are set forth in the drawingsof which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a simplified form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a more improved form;

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the clamping bars spread torelease the garments;

Fig, 5 is an elevation of one end of still another form of theinvention;

Fig. 6 is a cross section taken on the line 65 of Fig. 5; and,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of adjacent ends of the operatingbars.

In hangers of present known types, supporting wires enter the clampingbars at their longitudinal mid-point. The position of these wires causesthem to press a portion of the garment when it is bulky, for example,tweed trousers. When the garment is not bulky, the customary slidinglock Wire must be pressed or moved further along the support wires, withthe result that it presses against a portion of the garment and deformsit.

My invention surmounts these difficulties by supporting the clampingbars at the end, thus providing a clear space or area within the area ofthe bars and wires which is amply sufficient to receive the garments andto support the cuffs or garment parts which are supported above theclamping bars. Also, in a form which employs sliding lock wires, theselocks ope-rate on the supporting wires at both ends of the hangers inpositions where they can not come into contact with the garment.

This form of the invention is shown in Fig. 1 and comprises two separatewires, one of which, it, has its mid-portion curved upwardly to form ahook H for the hanger, and has downwardly bent end portions l2 connectedto the ends of one clamping bar l3. The other supporting wire 14 hasdownwardly bent ends [5 connected to the ends of theother clamping barIt. These clamping bars l3 and I6 are preferably provided on their innersurfaces with a layer of felt as indicated at IT. The mid-portion of thesecond supporting wire I4 is twisted as indicated at I8 around the otherwire I 0 adjacent the up-turned hook portion l! of that other wire. Thepairs of downwardly bent ends of the wires I0 and M are connectedtogether by the usual lock wires or links 89 which when moved downwardlywill draw the end portions !2 and 15 together and therefore draw thebars 83 and it together to clamp the garments therebetween since the endportions l2 and i5 are formed normally to diverge from each other asthey proceed downward. The movement of the lock links downwardly willtherefore tend to pull the bars together and clamp the garments tightlyin place. The contact of the ends 12 and I5 with the bars I3 and I6 arenoticed to be entirely outside of the area which will be occupied by thegarments and therefore they will not come into contact with the garmentsto wrinkle or crease or otherwise deform them.

A further form of the invention is shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and '7 whichis easily opened and closed. Although men usually do not object tooperating crude sliding locks found on hangers of the usual commercialtype, women with their more tender fingers and nails often find themhard to operate. A modified form herein obviates these disadvantages.This form, however, is one which is ordinarily self-closing and holdingbut which may, when necessary to support an extraordinary load orunusually bulky garments, be operated as a positive lock to hold. thesupporting bars in engagement with the garments under the extraordinarystrain. This positive action is achieved through the use of an operatingelement which can act both as an opening or release device as well as apositive locking device.

This form is shown in the above figures and comprises a cross bar 20,preferably oval in shape, having recesses adjacent its ends as indicatedat 2|. A spring wire is coiled as at 22 around the bar 20 in theserecesses with opposite ends projecting downwardly as at 23 and 24 andconnected to the ends of clamping bars 25 and 26. The form and characterof the coiled spring wire is such that the ends normally tend to beurged toward each other and therefore tend to press the clamping bars 25and 26 toward and into engagement with garments disposed therebetweenwith sufficient pressure for a normal load of garments. The oval shapeof the cross bar 20 will obviously make it unnecessary to fasten thespring coils thereon to keep the bar from turning within the coils. Thesprings and coils can be spread by a proper tool to slip them over theends of the bar 20 and into the recesses so that they do not have to beheld therein by any special fastening means.

Since the bars 25 and 26 normally are urged toward each other, they canbe spread apart to release the garments by means of an operating elementwhich comprises a hand-operated bar 21 having pairs of bayonet slots orapertures 33 at each end through which the wires 23 and 24 are passed inassembling the device. The slots are so disposed and arranged that, oncein place .and the clamping bars 25 and 26 fastened on the wires 23 and24, it cannot slip down thereafter.

The operating bar 2! is shown in it normal position and relation to theother elements of the device. Just below the normal position of the bar2! the end wires 23 and 24 are flared out as at 29 and just below theseflared portions the wires are bent at right angles to the flaredportions in the form of ears 30 which will prevent the bar 2! from beingmoved down beyond this point. The upper ends of the wires 23 and 24 areflared outwardly and downwardly from the cross bar 20 as shown at 3|.The center of the operating bar 21 is provided with a center ridge 32extending upward somewhat from the rest of the bar. The walls of thiscenter ridge at the slots 28 are sloped as shown in Fig. 3 so that whenthe element or operating bar 21 is moved upwardly it acts as a wedge tospread out the wires to the position shown in Fig. 4 so that the clothesare definitely released. The bar 2! can be gripped in the hand with thecross bar 20 and lifted by the fingers to release the clothes while theother hand is free to grasp the garments thus released.

When an unusually large load of garments is to be placed between theclamping bars 25 and and 25, the spring pressure inwardly onthe clampingbars 25 and 28 may not be quite strong enough and in this case theoperating element is then moved downwardly from the position shown inFig. 3 so that the bevelled. outer walls 4 of the slots 33 may beengaged with the flared faces 3| of the wires 23 and 24 to positivelypress the wires, and therefore the clamping bars 25 and 26, togethermore effectively to grasp the garments under these unusual conditions.

The form of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 are quite similar tothat shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 except that in this case the operatingelement normally rests upon the projecting ear 30 while the naturalresiliency of the wires presses the clamping bars against the clothes.The operating .element 34 is connected by a link 35 to wedges 36disposed below the clamping bars 25 and 26 and when the operatingelement is drawn upwardly as above described the wedges are movedupwardly to enter wedge-shaped notches 31 in the bottom of the bars tospread the bars and thus in a similar manner release the garments.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect toseveral preferred forms which the invention may assume, it is not to belimited to such details and forms since many changes and modificationsmay be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention in its broadest aspects. Hence it is desired to coverany and all forms and modifications of the invention which may comewithin the language or scope of any one or more of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a garment hanger, a supporting bar, wires coiled around said bar,said wires terminating in ends normally dependent below said bar, aslidably movable element supported on said terminal wires, elementssupported from said slidable element and adapted to enter betweengarment-engaging elements and force them apart when said slidableelement is moved upward and bring them together when moved in theopposite direction.

2. A garment hanger which comprises a hook, a horizontal supporting barsuspended from said hook, material-clamping bars, wires on each end ofsaid supporting bar and engaging said bars to tend to move themtogether, a slidable element supported on said wires, wedge shaped meanson said element and engaging said clamping bars to spread them apartwhen the element is moved toward the supporting bar, and means on saidwires and engageable the element when moved in the other direction totend to lock the bars together.

REGINALD R. HAWKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,018,299 Collier Feb. 20, 1912552,198 Porter Dec. 31, 1895 861,923 Wallis July 30, 1907 862,706Brenizer Aug. 6, 1907 1,231,517 Gage June 26, 1917 651,107 Dimmick &Johnson June 5, 1900 696,940 Cazier Apr. 8, 1902 1,157,107 Herrmann Oct.19, 1915 1,142,451 Morris June 8, 1915 1,344,391 Goldsmith June 22, 1920

